Richard Chamberlain (1934-)

biography

Born George Richard Chamberlain on March 31, 1934, in Beverly Hills, actor Richard Chamberlain was the younger son of a food market equipment salesman and his wife. Very athletic in his youth, he ran track in high school and, later, at Pomona College, which he entered in 1952. While studying at Pomona, he developed an interest in acting and was noticed by at least one studio, However, he was drafted into the Army following his 1956 graduation. After detaching from military service in in 1958, Chamberlain returned to southern California with a renewed interest in acting. He found success relatively quickly, first in television in guest roles on such programs as Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Thriller. He was also cast in his first film, the crime drama The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960; with Jeff Richards and Peter Falk). Shortly afterward, Chamberlain signed a contract with MGM; the studio put him in a supporting role in the western A Thunder of Drums (1961; with Richard Boone and George Hamilton) and cast him as the title character in the NBC series Dr. Kildare.

LEFT and CENTER: Beefcake shots of Richard Chamberlain. RIGHT: With actress Joan Marshall in the mid 1960s

Enormously popular out of the gate, the series made an overnight star out of Richard Chamberlain. As each episode was an hour in length, the actor had relatively little time for films but did secure roles in MGM's Twilight of Honor (1963; with Nick Adams) and Joy in the Morning (1965; with Yvette Mimieux). The high cost of producing the series and declining ratings led to the cancellation of Dr. Kildare in 1966. After five years of a demanding weekly series, Chamberlain longed for a change of pace, which he seemingly found when he was cast in a musical Broadway version of Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1966. With Mary Tyler Moore in the lead role, the show had promise but folded before its December 1966 premiere. Afterward, he headed to England, where he found work in the BBC TV series The Portrait of a Lady (1968). Staying in Britain for several years, he acted in the films The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969; with Katharine Hepburn, Donald Pleasence, and John Gavin), Julius Caesar (1970; with Charlton Heston), and The Music Lovers (1970; with Glenda Jackson), among other films. Upon his return to the U.S. in the 1970s, Chamberlain found work in theatrical releases and made-for-TV films, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Last of the Belles (1974; with Susan Sarandon, Blythe Danner, and Richard Hatch) and The Swarm (1978; with Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, and Bradford Dillman). While film success eluded him, television again made him a star in the mini-series Centennial, Shogun, and The Thorn Birds.

the films of richard chamberlain

The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960)

With Jeff Richards in the low-budget 20th Century-Fox crime drama The Secret of the Purple Reef, Chamberlain's first film

Dr. Kildare (1961-1966 NBC TV Series)

LEFT: As the title character in Chamberlain's 1961-1966 NBC TV series Dr. Kildare. RIGHT: With co-star Raymond Massey

Twilight of Honor (1963)

From the MGM drama Twilight of Honor with Joan Blackman and Claude Rains

Joy in the Morning (1965)

Richard Chamberlain Yvette Mimieux star as newlyweds with seemingly insurmountable problems in the MGM period romance Joy in the Morning. By all accounts, Chamberlain and Mimieux had a poor working relationship on this picture

Petulia (1968)

Julie Christie and Richard Chamberlain star as an unhappily married couple in the Warner Bros. drama Petulia

The Four Musketeers (1974)

With Oliver Reed, Michael York, and Frank Finlay in The Four Musketeers

Shogun (1980 NBC Mini-Series)

As Anjin-san in the NBC mini-series Shogun

The Thorn Birds (1983 ABC Mini-Series)

With Barbara Stanwyck and Rachel Ward in the ABC mini-series The Thorn Birds

King Solomon's Mines (1985)

From the Cannon Group's comedy-adventure King Solomon's Mines

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986)

As the title character in Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, the sequel to King Solomon's Mines

richard chamberlain today

Moving to Hawaii in the 1980s to avoid the spotlight, Chamberlain's career began to slow in the 1990s. In 2003, he penned his autobiography, titled Shattered Love, in which he revealed that he is gay and his struggles in Hollywood. Since then, he has portrayed gay characters in several film and television roles. Today, he continues to take on occasional film and television projects; he's just completed a role in Finding Julia (2018; with Andrew McCarthy) and will appear in a revival of the series Twin Peaks.